Phoenix Call Revamped
by QueenBattousai
Summary: This is a rewrite of the original Phoenix Call story I wrote ages ago.  I hope this one is enjoyed as well.


Prologue

Long ago, before man evolved from ape, the Gods of the Ancients created the first human in their image from clay and earth, to take the place of the dinosaurs as rulers of the Earth. They named her Gaia, the mother of Earth, and from her sprung mankind in all its glory and wonder. Free from sin and evil, mankind became prosperous and skilled in all things. Scholars during this time were even more intelligent then nuclear physicists of today. The skills of the artists surpassed that of even the Renaissance masters, and disease and famine were almost unheard of thanks to the skills of the doctors and farmers who lived among them. It was known as the Golden Age of Man, where man and beast lived together in peace.

Ruling over a portion of these human was the goddess, Ra, who ruled with a firm but gentle hand. At her side sat other ruler Gods of Ancient times; Zeus, Shiva, Odin, and others. Although she ruled alongside the others in harmony, she still felt the pangs of loneliness tugging at her heart. Seeing the growing distress of their sister god, the gods decided to find a husband for her, and they searched across the land in the hopes of finding a man worthy to marry a goddess.

It was Thoth, a God of Wisdom who succeeded in his search, coming across a young lyre player named Helios, who was already in love with Ra. The music escaping from the lyre filled Thoth's heart with overwhelming joy, Helios playing it so well that Thoth swore he was the personification of happiness itself. Filled with an idea and seeing the goodness in the boy's heart, Thoth approached him and told him that he was looking for a skilled lyre player talented enough to play in the Chamber of the Gods. Overjoyed, Helios agreed to play his lyre for them. So Thoth brought Helios before the gods, including Ra, and told the boy to play. Music so lovely wafted from the lyre as Helios played a song of love and romance, per Thoth's request. As he played, Ra's heart filled with such a joy and love that she could barely keep her eyes of Helios, watching and listening to him as he played.

As soon as he finished, Ra asked him to join her in her chambers, were they talked and made love. The following spring they were wed, and soon after Ra bore him a daughter so lovely even the elder goddess's of beauty and love burned with silent jealousy. Ra named her Amaterasu, and dressed her in flowing white robes and adorned her with a golden scarab pendent.

As the years past, Amaterasu grew lovelier, and was loved by all who met her. She loved all in return, including creatures of her own creation, which she made from the clay and silt that built up on the banks of the river Nile. She made unicorns of different types, dragons, sphinxes, mermaids and other sorts of mystical creatures. During these times, Amaterasu created a herd of winged horses, which she called the Elementals, to be her Royal Guard. She created for them riders, The Sages, and they protected her in return for giving them life. Her other creatures lived and worked along side mankind for centuries, and all was peaceful.

But not all who lived during this age had good intentions in his heart. The God of Evil, Seht, and his band of dark gods, silently schemed behind the backs of their brethren. They wished to bring about an everlasting darkness over the land, turning day into night, white to black. But over all, Seht lusted after the young Amaterasu, wishing to thrust himself upon her and make her his slave of lust. For years he waited in silence, waiting for the day when the moon overshadowed the sun so he could over throw the gods of light.

When the Eclipse came, Seht and his army struck with such ferocity that the gods were almost overwhelmed. Even though the people whom they ruled came to their aide, Seht's armies were too powerful to defeat. All hope seemed lost, until Amaterasu, moved by the love of the people, stood before Seht and challenged him to a duel to the death. As her mother looked on horrified, Amaterasu wielded the two swords, Ayrutana and Anaturan, facing Seht in the greatest battle ever fought. They fought viciously, each matching the others blows with such a power that those who looked on swore they felt the ground move with each blow.

The battle waged for what seemed like an eternity, until Seht, tired of his fight, brought upon the powers of darkness. Using them, he cursed Amaterasu as a white wolf, unable to use her swords in battle. In retaliation, Ra gave Amaterasu a golden mirror, glowing with a radiant and holy light. As Amaterasu was distracted, Seht sent a powerful blast towards her, hoping to end it once and for all. But Amaterasu was quick, and reflected his blast with her mirror, striking Seht in his heart. Unable to heal his wounds, Seht died from his injuries, but not before uttering a curse upon the Gods and the World. Man was cursed to become ape, their utopia sank into the deep recesses of the planet. Amaterasu's most cherished creation, a black gryphon named Nighthawk, was cursed to stone, along with Amaterasu's teachers and guardians. The Elementals became demons, even if most of their hearts remained pure. The Sages in turn also became animals, and fled to different parts of the world. Amaterasu was to be cursed to remain as a wolf for the rest of her days.

The gods, their power and strength drained from the war, made the heartbreaking decision to leave Earth to her own devices, leaving only one god, a woman named Jehovah, to care for the planet. Gaia chose to remain as well, as Earth was she, and to leave Earth meant to die. Before the gods could leave, however, Thoth prophesized that upon Amaterasu's death, she would be reborn. Upon this, she would lead then in another war of light and dark, the beginning marked by the falling of two great towers. The gods then fled to another planet, Titanis, in joyous hope that the day when they could return would come. Amaterasu in turn left her home in Egypt, creating the islands of Japan in the Far East. Many millennia passed since that day. Ape evolved once again into man. Nomadic groups became villages, then to towns and then cities. Amaterasu watched as her creations evolved as well, or were forced into hiding by mans new superstitious beliefs.

After millions of years, Amaterasu died as modernization began to take its toll on her island home, and as Thoth prophesized, she was reborn one hundred years later as a young girl from America. Her name is Erin, and she's about to enter a world that's been waiting for her for millions of years.

**Chapter 1**

**So It Begins**

Erin Prazan shut the door on her locker for the last time. It was the last day of eighth grade, and the had-been contents of her old locker were strewn about the floor in front of her, old homework assignments along with books and notes from friends. Dropping her bag at her feet, she bent down and began the tedious task of sorting it all. "Trash… trash… that's Brittany's… trash… trash… trash…Ruth's… trash…" The rhythmic chanting caused by her sorting along the muffled sound of small stacks of paper hitting the inside of the trash can next to her were the only sounds in the hallway. Her study hall teacher had allowed her to sort through her locker during the fifteen-minute period of class time, as Erin had somewhat of a 'date' immediately after school.

Feeling no guilt at the lie she had told her teacher, she shoved what remained of the loose papers into the trashcan before gathering her backpack and swinging it onto her back. Checking for the hall pass in her pocket, Erin made her way back towards the classroom, the added weight of her personal belongings a comfort, knowing she was finally leaving the small building for good. She would be entering high school the following year, a frightening yet exciting event. It was especially satisfying, considering the amount of begging Erin had to do into order to get to go to the public school with her friends, and not the Catholic school her father had wanted her to go to.

A small scowl crossed Erin's face as she thought about her father, quickly wiping it away and replacing it with a look of utter annoyance as a familiar call came from behind her. "Hey Raisin!" She turned to come face to face with a small group of boys coming up the hall from gathering their gym clothes in the locker rooms. Amongst them were the usual bullies, Tyler, Todd and Justin, along with their small gaggle of friends.

"Raisin? Gee, Tyler that line just never gets old?" Erin shot back, making sure to smear the sarcasm thick. "But just out of utter curiosity, have ya thought of anything new?" The name "Raisin" had stemmed several years ago after some of her rival classmates finally realized that it rhymed with her last name, and that calling her that drove her nuts. However, that had been three years ago, and Erin had long since gotten used to the term, almost to the point where she would react to it as if someone had called her by her real name.

Tyler scowled, puffing out his chest. "There's no need to, that line is gold! Everyone's saying it."

"Which adds to why it no longer bothers me. Seriously, you need something new. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to class." With this Erin turned, heading towards her class.

In a final act of defiance, Tyler raced up and grabbed a small yellow piece of paper out of Erin's hand. "Not without your hall pass!" But to his surprise, Erin didn't scream at him to give it back. Instead, she turned, smiled, and then ran off, pulling another, _laminated_ hall pass from her back pocket. "'Tah Gents!" She called out behind her, waving the pass over her head. Enraged, Tyler looked down at the paper he now held in his hand, which to his horror was nothing but a piece of yellow printer paper, with a very embarrassing picture of himself pasted to it. Underneath the photo, written in black ink, were the words:

"I always keep these handy just in case. Don't ask me how I got the picture, that secret with go with me to the grave. Enjoy your summer."

Horrified, Tyler dropped the paper and ran towards his classroom, followed only by the gut bursting laughs of his friends.

* * *

Erin exited the school building later that day filled with the traditional feeling of freedom that came with the last day of school. Skipping over the bridge to her mother's car, she could hardly wait for summer vacation to get fully underway. Swimming everyday, going to camp, playing with her friends, but nothing could beat the tradition Erin and her mom usually partook in every year on the last day of school, a good ol' traditional lunch at Burger King. Going to Burger King on a regular basis was a rarity in her household, as her father preferred home-cooked meals to going out to eat, plus his almost obsessive monitoring of his cholesterol levels and high blood pressure spilled over onto an annoying monitoring of Erin's own heart health. The only times Erin and her mother could go out without snide comments from him was when he was out of town on business, or when they went out to lunch while he was at work.

Spying her mom's burgundy 2000 Cadillac Deville sitting along the curb, Erin made a beeline. Grabbing the door handle, she opened the door to the sounds of Vince Gill coming from the CD player. "It's your baby Vince." She said, mocking a woman she had seen at the Country Music Awards several years prior.

"It's my baby Vince." Her mother answered back, putting the car in drive as soon as Erin's seat belt was clicked. "How was the last day of school?"

"Dull, as any other day here is. I can't expect high school to be much better, but what are ya gonna do?" Erin answered, shrugging her shoulders and tossing her backpack into the back seat. "So, anything else I should know about before I leave for DC next week? Anything you want me to do while you guys are in the Czech Republic?"

Gena Prazan shrugged. "Not that I can think of no, other then 'don't get hurt at Washington or at camp while we're gone'." Erin could only vaguely catch the nervous hint in her mother's voice. The school trip to Washington DC was the first cross-country trip Erin would have ever taken without her parents accompaniment. Four full days of traveling around the countries capital with nothing but a bag, two teachers, and half of her eighth grade class. It was especially exciting, as Erin would be rooming with two of her best friends, Chris and Ruth, during their hotel stays. The day following Erin's return home, her parents were leaving for the Czech Republic for a week to visit some relatives of her father. Erin, due to her picky eating habits and having to attend camp that same week, was excluded from the trip, not that she cared. Settling back into her seat, Erin waiting patiently as she and her mother made the short drive to Burger King.

* * *

Meanwhile, across town in an old apartment building, a Middle Eastern man walked down a third floor hallway. He wore normal civilian clothing, looking to be a middle class man merely returning home from work, though if one could read his mind, they would know otherwise. Rubbing his clean shaven face and running his fingers through his new short hair in disgust, he reached the door of apartment 320, knocking on it quietly, as though hesitant of disturbing its occupants. A rough voice answered in Islamic, "Who is it?"

The man gulped, almost daring not to answer, but forced out a weak reply, stating his name. It apparently worked, as the door slowly creaked open to reveal a person draped in a fully body shroud. The person, revealing it to be a woman, greeted the man quietly before shutting the door behind him and settling herself in a shadowed corner of the room. A small group of men sat at the small table in the kitchen, a letter and what looked like to be a map. Settling himself in an empty chair at the table, he greeted the others in a rigid manner, eyeing the papers before him.

It was an older man in his fifties who spoke to him first. "Do you know why we are all here?"

"No, I honestly do not."

"He's finally contacted us."

The younger man went stiff, in both fear and excitement. He knew what this meant. It finally meant that all the training and searching he had been sent here to do was to be finally put to an end. Soon he was to return to his homeland, and not have to walk amongst these infidels nor wear infidel clothing. "The time has come to put this legend to rest." The elder continued, eyeing all of the men at the table before shooting a suspicious glance at the woman silently sitting in the corner of the room.

"They've located where the girl is." He pulled the map towards the center of the table and traced a route with his finger. "She lives in a suburb on the west end of the city. From what our contacts have informed us, she's leaving for the country's capital at the end of this week for several days. They suggest we strike before then."

The younger man finally built up the courage to speak. "Why so soon? Why not wait until she comes back?" He pulled one of the papers towards him and skimmed it as he continued. "According to this, her parents will be out of the country for a week at least. Wouldn't that be more of an opportune moment to strike, when her guardians are fewer and weaker?"

The elder man scowled at him before opening an envelope that lay before him. He produced a picture of a young man, looking to be in his twenties. Shoulder length black hair hung over part of his face, but even with the obstruction, the younger man was able to recognize him almost immediately. "Is that…" He trailed off as the elder nodded. "He was spotted by the shopping center near the girl's house only two days ago. The longer we wait, the better the odds they'll get to her first. We can't let that happen."

The other men nodded in agreement, while unknown to them, the woman sitting behind them began scribbling something down beneath the folds of her burka. She had some news to tell her leader.

* * *

Erin's fingers couldn't fly over her keyboard fast enough as she typed her e-mails to the friends that weren't going to Washington. This was their last chance to ask for souvenirs, as Erin had no cell phone for them to call her while she was away. Ruth and Chris had limited funds to begin with, so as usual; Erin had been guilted into being the souvenir shopper for this trip. It didn't help that most of her friends ended up not being able to afford the two thousand dollars required for the trip. Luckily for the three girls who were going, they each had at least one relative who was loaded enough to supply the funds.

As she typed, Erin heard the faint tapping of her mom knocking on her door. Sighing, she stood and walked over to answer. Upon opening the door, she spied an envelope in her mother's hand, her named scrawled neatly on the front in what looked to be from a quill pen. Perplexed, she took it from her mom. "I found it in the mail box. I'm guessing a friend of yours from school?" Erin shrugged, looking the letter over. It was unopened, which she silently thanked God for her mom's will power to give Erin her privacy. Thanking her mom, made to shut the door, giving her mother the cue to leave. Gena nodded and left without a word.

Waiting until her mom was around the corner and going down the stairs, Erin shut her door and looked over the envelope once more. It looked to be made of a thick, yellowed paper, sealed in the back with a wax seal with what looked to be a phoenix imprinted in the smooth red blob. Curious as to who could possibly be old fashioned enough to still use parchment and wax seals, Erin turned the envelope and broke the seal. Inside was a piece of parchment paper neatly folded in half. Pulling it out, Erin opened it to find only a few sentences written in the same fashion as her name.

They'll be coming for you soon. Be on your guard. We'll be watching over you.

Sincerely yours,

A Friend

Erin was shocked. Who was coming for her? And who was this 'friend'? Half confused and half terrified, Erin stuffed the paper back in the envelope and stuffed it into one of her dresser drawers. She decided not to tell her parents about it. True it would probably keep her parents home instead of going to the Czech Republic, it could possibly mean they wouldn't let her go to Washington, especially since 9/11 was only the year before, and she couldn't have that. She had been looking forward to that trip all year, and no threat was going to stop her.

Taking deep breathes to calm herself, she heard her mother calling from downstairs for her to come to dinner. Making sure was completely calm before even opening her door; Erin went downstairs to be greeted with her mother's questions about the letter. Not wanting her family to panic, she replied, "It was just a letter from a secret admirer. To be honest, I ain't interested."

* * *

The blankets were piled high on top of her as Erin tried to sleep in this unusually cold night. Although she blamed the high air conditioning, Erin knew she was shivering because of what the letter had said. '_They'll be coming for you soon.'_ Who? That was all Erin could ask herself as she tossed and turned. Finally giving up on sleep, Erin rolled over and clicked on her bedside lamp, grabbed _Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban_, her favorite book, and began to read. If anyone could calm her down, it was Sirius Black, her favorite character by far in the Harry Potter series.

As she reached the part where Buckbeak was attacking Draco Malfoy, Erin could clearly hear the sound of crashing glass and the cracking of wood from downstairs. Someone was busting down the front door, and they obviously didn't care if someone heard them. Panicked, Erin was thankful to hear her dad loading one of his shotguns in the other room. It was one of those rare moments Erin was thrilled he was a game hunter. Clicking off her lamp and taking cover under her sheets, Erin scrambled silently over to the other side of her bed, closest to the wall. Reaching over the edge, her fingers grasped the only pair of weapons she owned. A wooden katana and a shinai, both of which she used in her kendo classes. It was at this point, however, Erin wished her parents had been gracious enough to buy her the armor as well.

A scream of agony and pain rocketed up the stairs. Erin stiffened, recognizing the voice. She had no idea her mother had gone downstairs with her father, nor that her dad actually intended to fire the rifle, as his voice boomed up the stairs. "GET YOUR GODDAMN HANDS OFF OF MY WIFE!" followed by the boom of his firearm as it discharged. Erin's grip on her weapons tightened, as to her horror, a sickening thud reached her ears. The cold, heartless voice that followed terrified her even more. "Where's the girl?"

Her mother's voice, shaking in terror, followed. "What do you mean? There's no girl here." A scream and a thud followed shortly after that.

"I know you have a daughter. She's the one we want."

_Holy God that letter was right!_ Erin shook violently, wishing that her wooden katana would magically turn to steal. The loud thump of heavy boots come from the stairs as someone, a large someone, ascended them. Biting her lip to keep herself from screaming, Erin slipped out of bed and held her shinai, the most painful of her weapons in front of her. _The only way out of this,_ she thought, _is to go down swinging._ Gulping spit to try and fight the nausea welling in her stomach, she raised her shinai over her head as her doorknob turned.

The man entering tightened his grip on his machete as he turned the doorknob. This was it; he was finally going to meet the famed god. He smirked and opened the door, half expecting the girl to be cowering in a corner, urine soaking her pajamas in terror. Nothing could have prepared him for the sharp pain and yell that met him as soon as his head was in the door.

"YAH!" Erin yelled, bringing the shinai down on his head with such ferocity she could have sworn she saw blood trickling down the sides of his face as he stumbled back in shock. The cry, the crack of the bamboo sword, and the man's yell in agony obviously got someone's attention from downstairs, as two more pairs of heavy boots began clomping down the front hall towards the stairs. With a final strike, Erin drove the hilt of her shinai at the man she just attacked, hitting him in the soft spot of his skull. He made no sound as he slumped to the floor. It was now as the two other attackers stomped up the stairs that Erin was able to get a good look at her attacker.

He looked to be a Middle Eastern man about his late thirties; early forties give or take a few years. He was dressed in worn army fatigues, an old chipped machete held loosely in his hand. She couldn't tell if he was breathing or not, and she wasn't given the chance to tell for sure, as two more Middle Eastern men stood at the beginning of the hallway, both holding machetes, but one had a pistol strapped to his hip. "Holy Mother of Abraham Lincoln…" Erin breathed, casting a small glance down at her bamboo shinai. The only reason she had stood a chance against the first attacker was because she had caught him by surprise, these two were looking right at her.

With a yell, both men charged as fast as they could towards her down the narrow hall. In a final act of defiance, Erin held out her sword straight out in front of her. Bracing herself and closing her eyes tight, she felt the thud of the man in front as the shinai tip rammed into his stomach. A second thud as the man behind him collided with him, driving the shinai deeper into his stomach.

Using this as a distraction, Erin lowered the shinai and bolted into her parents' bedroom, slamming the door behind her and shoving the dresser as best she could in front of the door. She then threw herself under the bed and scrambled around for what seemed like forever until her fingers wrapped around her old BB gun. It wasn't much, but it was the only gun she was able to physically able to hold and fire. Grabbing the box of BB's next to it, she loaded it and clicked off the safety. "Bring it." Erin breathed through gritted teeth, cocking the gun and putting her dad's hunting knife in between her teeth. This appeared to be her last stand; whatever happened to her now was at the mercy of God's will.

It took a few seconds before Erin could hear the ticking on the other side of the door. Panicked, she threw herself into the walk-in closet just before the explosives on the other side of the door blew. Shards of wood hit the wall where Erin had been standing seconds before, completely destroying the mirror that had been behind her. Completely encased in shock, Erin didn't notice the man appear next to her until it was too late. A closed fist collided with her head and Erin fell to the floor in a heap. The last thing she remembered before passing out was a green flash appearing behind the man just before he fell to his knees. Erin's vision went black before he even hit the floor.

* * *

A young man in black robes stood a good distance away from the Prazan household. Flicking his greasy black hair from his face, he looked down at the young girl unconscious in his arms. She was wrapped in a blanket to protect her from chills. A black and blue bruise began to well up where the al Qeada solider had struck her on her head. The metal frames of her glasses had cut into her face slightly, and the right lens had been cracked severely.

"Severus, how is the girl?" A voice as soft as satin wafted from behind the man. Severus Snape turned and came face to face with a burka-clad woman, the same woman who had listened in on the meeting earlier that day. She lifted her burka off and tossed it over her shoulder to reveal her to be a beautiful, fair skinned woman with silver hair. She was naked as she looked scornfully at the large piece of cloth that now lay on the ground.

Severus looked at her thoughtfully before he replied, "are you sure you should walk in only your birthday suit, Suicune?"

Suicune looked at him angrily before her body turned into liquid crystal, changing her shape until the crystal disappeared to reveal the body of a blue dog with white spots. A blue crest adorned her head, and a shiny purple mane cascaded down her back. Red eyes stared at Severus in an almost disapproving manner before she took her place at his side. "The police know nothing of what really happened?" She asked, glancing at Erin, who remained limp in Severus' arms.

"Indeed, Entei went to meet them in disguise. He intends to make it sound like Erin escaped the attack and is in a relatives care."

"And the parents?"

"Raikou took them somewhere to hide. He should be filling them in on what happened as we speak."

Suicune sat down watched the blue and red lights flash at the house before them. An ambulance had arrived to carry the dead and wounded al Qeada away, and a bomb squad had been called in case they had any other explosives on them besides the ones they had used to blast open the bedroom door. "We should have gotten here sooner. It would have been better if no one got wind of the attack."

"We _would_ have been even better off if the Council of Darkness hadn't gotten help from one of the most powerful terrorist organizations on the planet." Severus replied, his voice trying to hide a hint of malice, "but obviously we weren't blessed with that now were we."

Suicune snorted at the tone in Severus' voice and looked again at Erin, who groaned in pain as she began to regain consciousness. "So it begins."

* * *

Author's Note: Yup, it's a rewrite of the original Phoenix Call story. For those curious as to why, the old one felt "outdated" and under explained, so I figured, "Hell, why not." That and my grammer and writing skills had improved GREATLY from then. Go ahead, read the first Phoenix Call, you'll see what I mean. And a random fact, for those confused by the way the paragraphs are placed, that's fault, not mine. 

For those who are unfamiliar with the first version of the story, and to why I use al Qeada in it, it's because I thought of this story shortly after the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. In fact, the beginning of this story takes place roughly a year after 9/11. To use al Qeada and Taliban in this story was only natural. I do NOT have issues with Muslims, Islamic culture or those of Middle Eastern desent AT ALL. I DO have issues with terrorists, and I should point out that terrorists can come in all races, religions and cultures. Al Qeada and Taliban are just better known, and well, larger.


End file.
